The grass ain't always greener
by Inyoface
Summary: Imagine waking up and seeing colours you've never seen before, craving vices you've never desired, asking yourself who is really in charge of your personality, your body or your soul? When the Bladebreakers find themselves in this situation they have to face shocking revelations while trying to preserve their secrets in order to return to what they thought was normal. BODY SWAP fic
1. Max

**Hello everyone. This fic came about after I watched those videos where colour blind people try on those glasses that allow them to see the full spectrum for the first time. Some of them had gone decades not even realizing they were colour blind, and like many others, I asked myself how.**

**I became fascinated with how the world would look and feel if we were in someone else's body. And how much of our personality is shaped by the body we are born into (such as a genetic inclination to anxiety), and how much by our soul and past experiences (like a trauma).**

**The intro chapters are short, but the later chapters will be longer. Enjoy**

Chapter 1

When Max opened his eyes that morning, he believed himself to be having another migraine. This one, he feared, would be a particularly strong one. Colours were bright and appeared to be bursting out of the frame. Amongst these there were some he had never even seen before or ever expected to exist in nature. He found himself in Ray's bedroom but with no recollection how he had gotten there. Another memory glitch. Those only happened with the bad ones. The pain had not set in yet, but that wasn't all that unusual. He knew it was best to get home fast and take his medication.

His clothes were nowhere to be found, instead he was wearing one of Ray's pajamas. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to them. Stupid memory glitch. He reasoned that they were most likely in the washer. As he stood up he felt taller than usual. When he looked down on his arms they looked longer too, and the skin on his hands appeared darker and the shade greener. The unusual colour made them look like they weren't even his hands. This migraine was starting to feel more and more like an acid trip. Better get home. He called out to Ray, telling him that he was going to borrow some of his clothes. There was no reply. He was probably out getting groceries. That, or washing his clothes in the building's laundromat. Max tried to piece together a likely timeline. He could still recall the events of the previous evening and going to bed, so most likely he had come over to Ray's place that morning and experienced a sudden migraine attack, puked all over his clothes, then asked to lie down. He looked outside. It was still bright out, but the trippy colours made it hard to tell what time it was. Maybe afternoon.

He took a pair of Ray's pants out of his closet and began to undress. That wasn't his underwear! Had he puked all over that as well? How embarrassing. Just like the arms his legs didn't look like his own. They were hairy, and the hair was …black. Was he hallucinating now? It was hard to tell, he felt he was drowning in the gushing colours. They were like background noise. That's why it wasn't until he pulled the pants up the leg that he noticed a pale but wide scar along the ankle, much like the one Ray had, a remnant of the surgery he had needed after injuring himself at the Russian Championship.

What the hell?

His fingers frantically grabbed his head. There was hair, more hair than he knew himself to have, tied up in a messy bun. He undid the bun and black stands dropped down like a curtain. His heart was racing, this couldn't be. This was impossible. This kind of stuff only happened in clichéd movies. He ran into the bathroom, only to find a familiar yet false reflection looking back at him.


	2. Tyson

Chapter 2

Tyson was jerked out of his somber sleep by the shrill ringtone of a phone. Maxie's phone to be exact, which was lying on the pillow next to him.

The display said "Ray" and disturbingly, 8:30 am.

"Urgh, too early." He groaned, but answered the call nonetheless. "Wassup Ray? Maxie's out takin' a dump or somethin'. What's happening?"

"This _is_ Max. Who are _you_?"

Tyson snorted, he might be slow at times, but he wasn't _that_ dim. He could recognise Ray's voice anytime.

"_Ha Ha_ hilarious. Why are you calling me so early? I had such a nice dream… I was at the tournament and there was this big guy I was battling, but he was made entirely out of jelly, the raspberry kind, which is super rare to find, they're almost always out of it at the store…"

"Tyson?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you in my body?"

"Yeah, right. Stop treating me like I'm an idiot. I'm not falling for that."

"Go to the mirror."

Tyson felt he had outsmarted them. "And then you're going to pop out saying you made me look. Not funny."

Ray grunted something about just looking at his body then and Tyson reluctantly complied. They had even dressed him in Maxie's clothes. This would have been a hilarious joke if it wouldn't have been on him. That is, until he caught his reflection in the glare of the computer screen.

"Holy shit, I'm in your body!" he exclaimed. "How?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you think the others switched too?"

"Well, Ray must have. No idea about Kai, the chief or Hilary. If he is in your body, then it would be best to meet up at the dojo and get this sorted out."

They agreed to meet as soon as possible. Tyson was wide awake now. As he hung up, he noticed Max had gotten himself a new phone case. He had replaced the green frog one with a red one of the same print. He chuckled. Red frogs, that makes no sense at all. He hastily threw on an outfit that matched more than anything Max ever wore and was about to make his way outside when he realised that he had to pee badly. For the first time for as long as he could remember he sat down to do the act. Touching Maxie's wiener felt like an intrusion of privacy. Also, he was afraid that it would be bigger than his own. He couldn't even look down. As he was sitting on the loo he noticed an open carton of medication lying on the sink. It was labelled "Codeine" and had a prescription sticker with Max's name printed on it. It dawned on him that Max had forgotten to tell him to take it, so he poured himself a cup of water and swallowed a pill. He was such an attentive friend. He was gloating in this self-satisfaction as he stepped outside into what looked like a parallel universe.

The world had a dull brownish glow to it. Almost like it was twilight, rather than dawn. Even the grass was orange. As he walked down the street, he passed by a brown, yellow and grey streetlight. Maybe their bodies were not the only thing that had switched. Maybe the entire world was affected in some sort of way.


	3. Ray

**Thank you, to my sweet reviewer Guest (I'm loving the mystery), glad you are enjoying this story. I'm dedicating this chapter to you, cause you're awesome :) And the rest of you, don't be shy, I can handle the truth. Nothing can be more disheartening than my supervisor's comments on my thesis lol.**

Chapter 3

First thing Ray sensed was a comfortable warmth, which stood in stark contrast with the intrusively bright light penetrating his shut eye lids. When he opened his eyes, he was met by an intense glare of sunlight. Naturally he pulled his hand to his face to block it, and instinctively rolled to his side. It was then that he noted how firm and uncomfortable the surface was, that he was lying on. His eyes met the label of a half empty bottle of gin.

It would appear he had passed drunk outside somewhere. He never was a big drinker, typically getting the famed "Asian blush" after a single beer. Confused and disoriented, he sat up in order to get a better view of his surroundings. This made his stomach curl and he had to hold back the vile that was creeping up, trying to force its way to freedom. Short of a disgusting burp, the contents remained in his stomach.

He was lying on a concrete construction, that itself towered about two meters over a cement-tiled roof top, amongst a sea of buildings. In the distance he could barely make out the familiar river and rolling hills. He experienced momentary relief in knowing that nobody else could see him in this state, followed by abrupt panic when he realised, that he had no idea how he had gotten here and more importantly, how the fuck his skin had turned white. He briefly considered aliens, as all things considered, they seemed like the most logical cause. Then he recognised pimped up cargo pants and thermal tank top. There was only one person he knew who dressed like a 90s rapper that got lost in an alpine sportswear store.

Well, that was slightly more comforting, but why was he in Kai's body? Ray's surprising calmness in this situation was thanks to stories of the souls jumping bodies being a prominent feature in his village's mythology. He knew that these were not random or irreversible. There was always a cause and a solution. He could leave it up to chance, but the fastest way to return to his body would be to figure out why they had switched in the first place.

Hoping that Kai's possessions would provide an answer, he looked through Kai's fanny pack. There, he found a plastic bag containing a toothbrush, his face paint (priorities, eh), a pre-flip phone aged Nokia (so that bastard had lied about not having a cell phone, seemed he just didn't want _them_ to contact him), a pack of Kai's favourite brand of cigarettes (a nasty habit he had picked up a while ago, to the distaste of the others), and a suspicious looking bundle of cash. Multiple 10,000 yen notes, tied together by a simple rubber band. Ray counted at least 20 of them. A theory was starting to take shape in his mind. Next step would be to confront Kai about it, whom Ray concluded was lying in his very own room, confused and asking himself how he got there. He wasn't all that familiar with the town, but he knew that he was in the business district and that Tyson's place was nearby. The easiest would be to find it and make his way towards his apartment from there.

He jumped off the construction, leaving behind the gin bottle. Surely a detox would do Kai well. After landing softly on his feet, he was surprised to learn he had been sleeping on top of a gently humming generator. It was a lot less loud than one would expect. He scanned his surroundings. There was bound to be a door that would lead downstairs. It didn't take him long to locate it amongst the lines of laundry spanning across the rooftop. Oddly enough though, he felt compelled to wipe his hands on his pants after touching the handle. A brief thought shot through his head, attempting to reason this behaviour as "traces of everyone who touched this will remain on my hands". The same compulsion was repeated after he pressed the button to summon the elevator. Despite his own pants surely being dirtier, especially after having slept on the floor, this "fix" provided relief. Ray had never suspected Kai of being a germophobe. It made no sense to him, as the guy frequently slept outside and had never before shown any qualms about eating street food with his unwashed hands or using public restrooms.

When he left the building, he noticed another peculiarity. It was rush hour, the streets were packed with honking cars and shouting people, yet it seemed quieter than one would expect. As he was waiting to cross the street an ambulance rushed by, and not just did its siren sound less shrill, it's volume and pitch picked up significantly when it passed him by, only to gradually fade again. Despite the surroundings being quieter overall, this effect made Ray soon overwhelmed by his sense of hearing. It was hard to estimate distances of cars and people as the input to his ears was uneven. It wasn't until he retreated into a quieter alley, that he could sort out his thoughts and reflect on what he had just experienced.

Clearly, Kai had a hearing problem. Problem was an understatement. The dude was almost deaf, and the left ear way worse off than the right. Ray didn't even register when someone called out to him. To be fair, that could have also had something to do with him not being used to reacting to Kai's name. This someone tapped his shoulder and he spun around to come face to face with… himself.

But not like he was used to seeing himself. The face was his but not quite, despite the stuff that he couldn't quite place his finger on, he noticed the scar on his chin being on the left side now.

"Well I'll be damned. I thought I just look bad in pictures, but _this_ is the real me. What a blow."

"Ray!" His clone called out, smiling softly and throwing his arms around him. This was definitely not Kai. Based on the reaction it was…

"Max?"

"Yup."

"So, you're involved in this too." Thanks to this new development, the neatly packaged theory that he had come up with to explain their switch was tossed out the window.

"Tyson … meet …, but he … late, as usual." Max explained. His voice sounded more muffled than Ray was used to, and he couldn't quite make out every word, but he got the gist of it.

"At least some things never change." He joked.

Max mumbled something, but since a car passed by in that moment, Ray was unable to make out any of the words this time.

Kai hadn't told them of his disability, so clearly this was something he wanted to keep to himself. Maybe he was embarrassed. Maybe it made him feel vulnerable. Whatever the reason was, it wasn't Ray's place to tell the others, so he chose his words wisely:

"Could you repeat that, I am still getting used to Kai's ears."

Instinct compelled him to look at Max' lips, and this time he had no problem. It made him wonder if all the times Kai had given them the usual "I don't care", he was trying to mask that he didn't hear what they had said.

"Oh, tell me about it. Tyson's vision is trippy. The way he sees colours is entirely different to how I am used to."

"Dude, that's because you're colourblind." Tyson shouted, loud enough for even Ray to hear him.

Max was taken aback by this revelation. "Nah, no way… I mean…" As much as he wanted to deny it, it slowly dawned on him. "Holy shit, is this how everyone else sees the world?"

"Yup."

"My favourite shirt and pants are two different colours?" Mind blown.

"Yeah man." Tyson was holding his stomach, laughing. "That explains your terrible fashion sense."

Jumping back and forth to read their lips was exhausting, no wonder Kai clicked out. Maybe, like Max, he was unaware of how much his sensory perception differed from normal. But if Kai and Max were unaware, maybe Ray was too. That thought spooked him.

The two of them turned away from each other and were now looking at him expectantly. He made a guess.

"Yes… let's go."

It appeared he had guessed correctly. They made their way inside. Tyson's grandfather was standing in the garden, Kendo sword in hand, rehearsing a drill with the day's first class.

"T-bone is still sleeping." He informed them.

It seemed Kai had inherited Tyson's body clock. Tyson himself was chewing on his lips, the inner conflict reflected on his face. Ray deduced he was probably debating whether he should run up to his grandfather and tell him about the whacky occurrence, but thankfully resisted. While grandpa was no doubt trustworthy and just open minded and fond enough of the new age dogmas to maybe believe them, dealing with the group of students could only be bothersome.

As expected, they found Kai in Tyson's bed. Amusingly enough, despite being stuck in Tyson's clumsy body, the way he was lying, straight and orderly, his arms neatly tucked next to his legs, was undoubtedly a manifestation of his true self.

"Kai, wake up!" Tyson shouted.


	4. Kai

**It's been a while. I'm sorry for the delay. I graduated. And got my first job, life has been moving very fast… anyway, thank you to my readers and especially my reviewers. I am so grateful for your support. Please enjoy!**

Chapter 4

The shrill sound shook though Kai's body and his eyes shot wide open. What he saw was no less frightening. Max was leaning over him, much too close.

"Calm it, Max. Don't yell like that." He shoved him off the bed. Max landing on the floor made a loud banging sound that startled him further.

He shot up to see if Max was okay, he seemed fine, but he found himself somewhat sidetracked by Ray and none other than _himself_ standing by his bed, looking at him eagerly. A lucid dream. Nothing but a vivid lucid dream. He let himself fall back onto the pillow, closed his eyes and turned away. If it was a lucid dream, that should mean he could control it. But before he could drift off into a better one, he was being rattled relentlessly.

"Kai, some voodoo magic made us all switched bodies, and now I am in Maxie's body, Max is in Ray's, Ray is in yours, and you are in mine."

This was sounding more like a nightmare than a lucid dream. Kai tried his best to wake himself up from it, but whenever he opened his eyes, he still found his own staring back at him.

This couldn't be real. Was this an acid trip? Had he taken drugs and forgotten about it? After what happened last night it wasn't too far-fetched, but he couldn't have because of… or did he? He believed himself to have more self-control than that, but confronted with what he saw, a small lapse in judgement seemed more reasonable than the alternative that "Tyson" was proposing.

"It's nothing to be afraid of. The ancient scrolls of village tell many legends of souls travelling places." The mirror-Kai said.

"Max" tried to comfort him. "I'm sure it must be a shock. I couldn't believe it at first either."

"Tyson" jumped back onto bed, his hand reaching for his face. Kai jerked back. "Hey, why are my bangs parted like that?" Tyson asked.

"You're just used to seeing yourself the way you look in the mirror. But to everyone else this is how you actually look." "Ray" explained as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Woah, really? Man, I look weird."

"Don't worry, it just feels uncanny because you're not used to it. You look normal to the rest of us."

To Kai, they might as well be yelling across the room. He could hardly stand listening to them. Every time one of them spoke it was akin to aircraft taking off next to him. He clutched his hands over his ears.

"Shut up! You're so loud."

Even the sound of his "own" voice rattled him.

"I think it's best if we let him process this for a moment. Could you guys leave me alone with him for a second?" Ray suggested.

Thankfully the others complied, though Kai wasn't sure if being left alone with his clone was even worse. Lucky for him, the realization that he was in Tyson's body hadn't quite dawned on his sleep-drunken self yet.

Ray allowed him enough time to stare. Finally, Kai asked: "So this has happened before you say?"

"Yeah, and I even have an idea as to why."

Kai shrugged. "Entertain me."

"One of us is in need, and I think it's you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Why didn't you tell us you are homeless?"

"I'm not."

"I looked through your stuff. The bundle of cash, the burner phone. You're either homeless or a drug dealer." Ray persisted. His voice was getting louder.

Kai crossed him arms. "I'm not a drug dealer. And it's none of your business why I have that cash."

"If you tell us it might help us reverse our situation."

"Fine, I had a fight with my Grandfather yesterday. I grabbed my savings and took off. But it's only been a night, I haven't yet decided what to do. But I'm not homeless. I could easily rent a place or stay with some friends."

"Who?"

"I have friends aside from you guys. I have a life that doesn't _involve_ you."

"You can always come to us for help. We won't judge you. You could have told us about your disability too."

Ray's intentions were good, but Kai didn't perceive them as such.

"I am NOT disabled." He looked appalled.

"You can't lie to me, I'm in your body. I think you need a hearing aid."

"I can hear just fine. You will get used to it. Now stop interrogating me. None of this explains why we switched. If I was the cause, why are all four of us involved?"

Ray did not have an answer to that.

They assembled inside of the sauna that had become of the dojo. It was boilingly hot, so much so that even the class had decided to move it outside.

"What do we tell people?"

"Does anyone have food allergies or medical conditions. Need regular medication?"

"I took those pills you need. You're welcome." Tyson proudly announced.

"My codeine?"

"Yeah."

"That stuff is potent. And really expensive. I only take it when I feel a migraine coming. And you need to make sure you eat a meal with it and drink plenty of water."

"That explains why I feel like I'm having the shits. Oh yeah, talking about shits..."

Max giggled. "You are always talking about shits."

"If you think a codeine shit is bad, you should see me after I eat dairy." He proclaimed.

"Gross." Kai replied, though he was grateful for the warning.

"Wait, does that mean I can eat cheese now?" Tyson's face lit up. His eyes sparked. "I'm going to have a feast."

"Hey, don't gorge yourself just because you're in my body. It will be me who has to lose the weight." Max protested.

"Let's just agree to not intentionally harm each other's bodies. And keep in shape." Kai summarized.

"That means no smoking for you." Ray reprimanded him.

"Fine. As long as I don't end up with a tramp stamp of a poorly drawn mandala."

When he turned 18 Ray had decided to get a meaningful reminder of his trip to Thailand and immediately regretted it.

"What do we tell people? Will we do what they do in movies and try to hide it?" Max asked.

"Kenny could be a useful ally. He could help us find a solution." Kai suggested.

"Then we should tell Hilary too, otherwise she'll get jealous that we are excluding her." Tyson added.

Nobody wanted another repeat of green-eyed Hilary.

"I think we can tell Grandpa. He'd get worried if I suddenly started acting like sourpuss. I think he'd believe us. He used to be into all that hippie New Age stuff when he was young. Plus, he's old enough that people will just assume he's when he accidently exposes us."

"Mom would have me institutionalized." Max jumped in. "You're going to have to act like me."

"That will be no, problem." Tyson proudly spouted his impression of an American accent. _Sorry_ _Momma, I ain't got no time to talk right now, I'm busy polishing my gun and watching Jimmy Kimmel Live, while reciting the constitution. Why don't y'all eat yer sloppy joes 'n mac'n cheese without me_." It was spot on. His eyes widened. "Holy shit. I speak fluent English."

"That's uncanny." Kai remarked. "Wait does that mean I know Chinese? Hello I am Max." He tested. "Nope, doesn't look like it. What about you, Ray?"

"_Wǒ jiào Ray_." He spoke in a thick accent. "I seem to remember it, but my tongue doesn't seem to know where to go."

"It could be that since language is part of our memory, we don't lose our knowledge of it, but enunciation is a skill one's body needs to refine. By that logic, Tyson might sound like an American, but doesn't have the full vocabulary range." Max proposed. He turned to Tyson. "Define enfranchisement." Who would have thought that those pesky SAT words would one day come in handy?

"Eh? I have no clue."

"So the way it looks, whatever we didn't take with us was left in our body." Kai concluded.

"Yeah, like you inherited my sleeping habits." Tyson remarked smugly, hoping that Kai would be more understanding from now on. Kai didn't catch his drift, instead, his face turned white.

"How _late_ is it?"

"9:30 am. I know, it's terrible isn't it?"

"I have to be at work at 10 am. Quickly, Ray, you'll have to cover for me."


	5. Ray again

**As part of my apology for taking so long, here is another chapter. Ray's POV this time. Enjoy my lovely readers.**

Chapter 5

Kai's job involved orange reflective vests, a roll call, and picking up trash in public parks under the scornful eyes of onlookers. What it however did not involve was a salary. Even though it wasn't technically himself in the orange vest, Ray was feeling the shame. People were whispering and pointing fingers. Mothers were hastily grabbing their children's hands they passed him by. He hoped for the sake of their team's reputation that nobody recognized Kai. He was grateful for the fact that his parole officer had yelled at him to remove his "gang make-up" before they set out. Kai was somewhat of a small-town celebrity, but hopefully the fresh-faced cheeks could grant him a little anonymity.

The work went on for eight hours without a break. The glaring heat was killing him, but if he stopped for as long as a minute to drink some water from the fountain, Mr Yoshi came over to scold him and threaten to write him up for bad behaviour. He cursed Kai for making him to his community service for him. But he also lamented on what he had said earlier, that they really didn't know much about his life outside of their meet ups. As he handed back his vest at the end of the day, he asked Mr Yoshi how many hours he had left, hoping to be able to ballpoint the severity of Kai's crime.

"128."

"Damn."

"Should have thought of that before you did what you did."

"Yes sir."

Ray walked away shaking his head. "What did you do, Kai?"

"So what does Kai do for a living."

Despite being mad at him for acting so irresponsibly and callously putting their team's reputation at risk, Ray knew it wasn't his place to say. Still, he couldn't resist taunting him a little.

"He is a stripper."

Max gasped. Tyson laughed. They turned to Kai in awe. "For real?"

Kai gave him the stink eye. To no effect. In part, because it didn't look nearly as intimidating coming from Tyson, but primarily because this was the non-negotiable payment Ray demanded for his silence. It was up to Kai to accept the terms. He resigned to his new image.

"It's as he says." The words were almost inaudible through his clenched teeth.

Ray wasn't the only one amused. Tyson was dancing around the humbled felon, trying to cold read his stage name. "Grincher Spice? Grumpy Glitzthong? Kiki Diamond?"

Kai masterfully changed the subject. "We have established some rules. Some no-go's and behavioural guidelines." He informed Ray.

"Alright, hit me."

The look on Kai's face told him he would love to take that literally.

"No unsolicited snooping. Keep it to the minimum that the situation requires."

That one was directed at him. Ray nodded. "Surely, our definition of what the situation requires are bound to differ."

"If you are in doubt. Don't." Kai snapped back. He rubbed his temples and decided to appeal to him with a kinder approach. "I have a right to secrets, Kon."

Ray had a lot of questions, but Kai was correct. In just a day, he had already learned a lot more than Kai was comfortable telling him.

He nodded politely. "Of course."

"No sex."

"Well that's a given."

"That includes masturbation."

Ray grunted. "That shouldn't be too hard since you seem to have the sex drive of a menopausal woman, but Max will struggle in my body."

"This should be obvious but don't share personal details you happen to find out." Kai's voice was unusually shaky.

Ray nodded. "Right, I'm sorry." That joke appeared to have hit a sore spot. Kai wasn't actually impotent, was he? Ray was desperate to find out, but he'd have to resist.

"Ray is right though." Max butted in. "We don't know how long we will be like this, but…" He turned red in shame. Ray's hyper-inflated sex drive was too much for this pure-hearted virgin. This body got hard if a pretty girl did as much as sit near him on the bus. It made him feel like a pervert. He had covered his lap with a newspaper but still felt compelled look over his shoulder during the entire ride, praying that nobody could tell. Luckily it wasn't too obvious, since Ray was rather _small_ in that regard. Surely that was a secret Ray would like if he kept for himself.

"No problem, knock yourself out Maxie."

Max responded by diverting his gaze. Anxiously twirling his thumbs, he deflected the attention at Tyson. "Since Ray gave me permission, I can't hold you to higher standard."

"Okay then. So, do we all agree that sex is off the table, but solo is fine?" Tyson suggested.

"I'm not comfortable with it." Kai chimed in. Even the idea of Ray touching _it_ to pee made the hairs on his back stand up. Not even a significant other had been allowed near his privates.

"Huh? You're a stripper. Shouldn't you be used to people groping you? Poor Ray will have people's hands all over him." Tyson threw in.

"Oh, I think he'd enjoy that." Kai remarked dryly.

They could all agree on that. Really it was a surprise to them their horndog friend hadn't considered that career before.

"Before all of you hastily agree, Kai has a point in being cautious. It could be it might reveal some things we keep suppressed."

"Eh, you mean like our kinks and such? Do you think it's possible they might carry through?"

In that moment a wave of panic swept over all of them.

Kai and Tyson fearing that theirs might be revealed, meanwhile Max was hoping Ray's fantasies would be vanilla. Good thing Kenny wasn't involved in this. Anyone who spend that much time on the internet would indubitably have a state of mind under the legislature of rule 34.


End file.
